The Timetravelers
by sammi-san
Summary: Two girls from different lives join a government organization. Later on, they go in the past to rescue a Pokémon trainer... [no longer updated]
1. Prologue

_Welcome, or if you read the old stuff, welcome back. It's me, sammi-san, giving this another go. One year ago (from Sept 20th 2004) I started writing my series in a notebook.  
Since then, my opinions and tastes have changed. I've found myself liking shipping less (not original character mind you). I started thinking about some plot twists, and I was starting to like it. Some ideas I was starting to hate. I didn't like the endless editing I was doing to make my characters more "believabe" and making sure that everything made sense. It was time for a change.  
I've grown up since when I first posted my fanfiction. I keep looking at it and going OMG why did I even post this? It's so n00bish it's scary. I'm not perfect, I never will be, but I figure that I will keep trying to do my best.  
So one day, I started from square one again. I took what I was planning to change and started from the bottom up. I did no coyping and pasting; I just did it all over. Most of it is still the same, but there are some changes to it. I guess you'll have to read and find out what's come, what's gone and what's been changed. I've tried to go away with notes, and silly little things that later on I know I'll go "wtf why did I ever do this? It's stupid". You may like it, you may not. It's all up to you. You can read what you want, and if you want to stop here, then that's fine. _

_I found it quite fitting to post this again the day that I started to write the original. To me it shows that since I started, I have improved much. That, and it just seemed quite fitting._

If you read the first **ONLY** for the AAML then I suggest you leave. oO;;

**The one and only disclaimer: **  
_Pokémon belongs to Game Freak, 4kids Entertainment, other Japanese companies and Satoshi Tajiri. It is not mine. I do not claim ownership to anything but my original characters (but not some of their parents, for they are property of 4kids Entertainment, Satoshi Tajiri I think and other Japanese companies) and maybe some of the ideas. Maybe. But if they are not meant to be mine, then I will not claim them as mine.  
The end._ **The one and only note:**  
_Dates (and years) are estimates. I have set the date that Ash left Pallet Town to get Kanto badges as June 4th, 1995. Everything else is estimated and in proportion to that date._

---

Prologue

It was another cold November night in Viridian City. Most of the people in the city were sleeping, for it was quite late at night. But some people were still up, whether they wanted to be or not.

Inside the large hospital, there was a woman. She wasn't exactly the average woman either; she could easily tell that the attendants in the hospital were afraid of her. Each one of them stood away from her, looking paler than they usually would. That brought a cold smile to her face.

_It's fun watching their faces,_ she though to herself, looking at the hospital workers. _I just love striking fear into their hearts._

But then she turned her thoughts to the matter at hand. She had some other business to deal with at the moment… it was quite a predicament for her.

In front of her was a cradle with an infant squirming in it. The infant was tiny; it had been born a month earlier than planned. That was beside the issue though. The child was unexpected and unwanted, for the mother was only expecting and only wanted one child. She had heard from a trusted fortuneteller that the child's twin would be what she wanted. How could she possibly know that this other child would be worth her time raising? The woman despised children, but knew that she had to have them otherwise when she died, no one would be around to carry the family name. And the less she had, the better.

_The last thing I need is another child to worry about,_ she thought, looking at the tiny child. _I hate children enough as it is. If it weren't for the fact that they grow up to be something worthwhile, I'd never even bother with them._

And so the woman thought, wondering what she could do with this other child.

_I could just kill it; that would save me time and make me look bad in the process. Or I could send it to the orphanage and make it suffer…_ She then smiled. The woman loved to see things suffer more than anything else in the world.

_Sounds like a plan to me then… I'll let it suffer.  
_

The woman turned to her side. A blond man stood there, bundling up the small twin. The child was small, but the woman knew that she could find good care for it. She had connections to good health care besides public hospitals. She just had to make sure that the child survived the trip from this hospital to the next.

"You really shouldn't take that child out of here," one of the attendants said, staring at the man. "She might not survive--" But when the man gave her a stern glare, the attendant stopped, not wanting to say anymore. The woman might attack if she did.

"And what about the other girl?" another attendant asked. "Don't you want to name her and take her with you?"

Swiftly the woman turned her back to the infant in the cradle.

"No. It can go to the orphanage. I don't care what happens to it anymore." She then turned back to the man, who was done bundling the other infant. "Let's go."

Soon the woman, the man and the twin were out of the hospital. None of them cared about what would happen to the little girl they had left behind. The little girl that still squirmed in the cradle was never and no longer important.

-tbc-  
  
:o more secrets in this one XD  



	2. Chapter One

Four-tenths is like going from 8.0 to 8.4, if your need a visual aid. ;;

---

Chapter One

November 20th, 2022 (Monday)  
Viridian City  
6 a.m.

In an urbanized part of the city, there was an apartment building. All the way on the 25th floor, where the high-class apartments were, was an apartment. Inside the apartment was a bedroom occupied by a teenage female, who was currently wrapped up in her quilt, snoozing the morning away. Her long orange hair was everywhere, and her legs were at odd angles.

Soon there was a knock on the door, and then a "get up!" from the woman who had knocked. Slowly the girl got up and turned on the light. As soon as she adjusted her eyes to the blinding light, she did the morning routine: brushed her hair, changed her clothes, and all the other things that the teenage girl always did.

Next was breakfast. The woman who had knocked on the door was making breakfast. She wore a plain blue dress and had pulled back her graying hair into a ponytail. When the teenager walked into the dining room area, she smiled. Then she quickly flipped the pancake on the skillet, for it was starting to burn.

Soon breakfast was served: pancakes, bacon and orange juice. Quickly the girl dug into breakfast, quite hungry. She had not eaten anything the previous night, too busy with other things.

"Excited about today?" the woman asked, eating some of the pancakes she had made for herself.

"Why wouldn't I?" the teenager answered as soon as she had swallowed. "It's my birthday. But I loathe Mondays…" she mumbled, taking a gulp of her orange juice. "Are you sure I can't skip school today? It IS my birthday…"

Sternly the woman stared at the girl.

"You know what your father said. You are to attend school today, and that's final," she said. "Besides, don't you get those important test scores today?"

The girl then slapped her head. She had forgotten all about the tests she had taken the previous month. For a girl like her, life depended on it. It was also bragging rights if she got a high score, and the girl wanted every reason to brag.

After more of the morning routine, the girl got her backpack and went out of the apartment. The hallway was bare, with white walls and brown doors. The most decorative object was the gold elevator door. As soon as it came, the girl got on the elevator. A couple of students from the psychic school also got on. All of them wore blue uniforms. One of them, a tall blond female, snickered.

"Look, it's Nayana again. How's school with the losers?" she asked in an annoyingly high-pitched voice.

"Fine," she replied, glaring. The girl didn't think the school was for losers. Her high school was decent enough for her.

"And how's your MOTHER? Killing innocent people again, I presume?" the girl continued, grinning at the now annoyed teenager in the corner of the elevator.

Nayana turned her back to the others.

"Like I care about her. The only connection we have is blood," she said, staring at the corner of the elevator.

The elevator stopped. The psychic students got off the elevator first, all glaring at Nayana. As soon as they moved, she also got off.

_Stupid stuck-up academy students_, she thought to herself.

True, she had been one of them, before the other students had decided to hang her because of her "blood relations". Luckily, Nayana had come out alive with a sore neck, and she had gotten a school transfer. Now she attended school with other normal students and psychics who didn't want to go (or couldn't quite afford to go) to the academy.

Next, Nayana stood at the bus stop, for her school wasn't within walking distance. Even though she could easily teleport to school (she was psychic after all), it was nice to socialize with the other students. And the school bus was a great place to brag, since most students would listen and tell their friends.

When the yellow school bus came, she got on and sat in the back, where the "cool" crowd was. She wasn't one of them; that was where her seat was. Not even the "cool" crowd apposed her as she sat down. They all knew what she could do to them, and it scared them to death.

Soon the bus was at the school. It was three red brick buildings, one being the gym and the other two being for classes. Everyone got off the bus, going on their separate ways.

The next stop was the nurse's office. Since most teachers didn't trust the psychic students, they had to get their powers blocked. There was a device called a patch that did this. It kept a mind clear enough to do normal things, but not enough to bend a spoon. Almost all of the psychic students, about fifty, stood in line, waiting to get the okay from the nurse. (Most patches were implanted in the ear, so that they could alter how much power they wanted, but a few were temporary).

"Next," the nurse said, poking her head out from the doorway. Slowly the line went down until it was Nayana's turn.

The office was about as plain as the apartment building hallway. White walls and plain brown cupboards were all that Nayana saw. The teenager sighed, hating the plainness of the school.

"How's your day been?" the nurse asked while looking for the device to check power. She filed though a cupboard until she found Nayana's.

"Fine," Nayana replied, yawning. "Wish I had the day off."

The nurse held the device to the girl's right ear. The display screen showed a number: 4.5. The number was how strong the mind and its brainwaves worked; it needed to be 5 to do the simplest of psychic techniques. Nayana was okay to go.

"Happy birthday!" the nurse said while Nayana went off to her first class.

The rest of the day was good for her. Most of her teachers were nice to her today. One of them even gave Nayana some candy (which she promptly ate). At lunch, the very few friends she gave her gifts. But the best part were her test scores, which were handed out at the last period of the day.

The test was called the PSI (which most people rolled their eyes at, wondering why the person who named it gave it that abbreviation). It determined how smart and how strong one was, and it was essential for getting a job that involved powers. The higher the score, the better jobs that one was likely to get.

"I'm gonna get a 100, just watch," Nayana bragged to anyone who'd hear.

"Grow up," most of them replied, glaring.

"Not even Sabrina, one of the smartest psychics of all time, could get a score that large. She got a 97," one of the smarter psychics said. "A 100 is impossible."

"Oh shut up," Nayana said.

Most of them couldn't stand how the girl bragged. It was bad enough that she was the strongest psychic who hadn't ingrevated (a process that strengthened the power of the mind, ultimately bringing it up four tenths), but having to hear her brag about a perfect PSI score would drive them mad. It would be all they would hear for days and days, and by then, they would have no hair. Each one of them would have pulled it out by then.

Soon Nayana got the scores. It was high: a 98.5. Unfortunately, that wasn't the score Nayana wanted to get at all. That was too low for the teenager, who wanted the ultimate rights to brag.

"WHAT?" she yelled so loud, the students in the class across the hall could hear her.

The man who had given her the test score took a look at it.

"Wow! A 98.5! That's the highest score I've ever seen!" he said, smiling. "You should be proud that you got such a high score. You know, the sky's the limit for a score like this. Any psychic employer would like an employee as smart as you!"

Nayana still glared at the man. He had a very great point, but Nayana was still disappointed.

"It's not perfect though," she mumbled, taking it back and putting it in the envelope she had received it in. She couldn't afford to lose those scores.

Eventually the last bell rang. Glad that school was over, Nayana ran out. Her grandmother, the woman who had been in the apartment before, would be picking her up to get her driver's license. The girl was glad that she was getting it; she had always wanted a car. Of course, she had to get the money first, and that was where she was stuck. Ms. Daila, a manager, was talking about giving her a job at her café, but Nayana didn't want that kind of job.

As Nayana spaced off, thinking about what she would do when she got a car, a girl walked up to her. The girl had long black hair, wore a pair of black flares, a black t-shirt, and a sweet, innocent smile on her face.

"Hello there!" she said, sounding as innocent as her smile.

"Uh, hi," Nayana replied, startled. The girl looked quite suspicious to Nayana; she had never seen the girl before, and her enemy almost always used this kind of approach to catch her off her guard. Also, girls in that dressed in black were usually Goth, and this girl didn't sound Goth to Nayana.

"I heard it's your birthday today!" she continued, smiling sweetly. But then she switched her innocent smile for an evil grin. Swiftly she pulled out a handgun and pointed it at Nayana's head.

"Too bad it'll be your last."

Nayana sighed. It was the usual "let's get back at the father by killing the daughter" gig that most evil organizations did these days. Her father was wanted by most, considering that he did run the famous Pokémon League. Everyone wanted that power, and they knew how to get it.

It was too bad for the enemy that Nayana excelled at psychic combat. The girl snuck away and stuck out her pink tongue at the enemy. Next, she shouted "nyah nyah", which angered the enemy even more.

Enraged, the girl attacked her. She shot the gun, only to hit the grass. Several of the students still hanging around screamed, and one of them pulled out their cell phone to call the police.

"You missed, loser!" Nayana yelled. "My grandma could aim better than you, and her hands shake!"

Still enraged, the girl then tossed the gun to the ground. It was obvious to her that she had to fight using her powers as well. The gun would do no good.

The first thing that the girl did was focus her powers on Nayana. She imagined that Nayana was being constricted on every part of her body, and that was what happened. It was a painful technique, as many people knew. But Nayana thought the exact opposite, and her power cancelled out the girls in a flash.

_What the…_ the enemy thought. _She's really strong! How could she get out so fast? I'm 8.2! No one could be much stronger than that…_

Next Nayana focused her powers on her right hand. Slowly she clenched her hand. Soon a sphere of purple energy appeared, floating slightly above the palm of her hand. After that she threw it at the shocked girl in front of her. The sphere of energy landed in her stomach, pushing her back into the street.

_Purple???_ the girl thought. _Her powers can't be purple like that, not unless she's above the power of 8.5, which just CAN'T be possible… Mother said only three have reached there, and I severally doubt she's related to one of them…_

But she couldn't think about it any longer; an old brown car was coming right toward her. The girl teleported away, afraid for her life.

The car stopped in front of Nayana. Inside, her grandma smiled and waved. Quickly Nayana got in the car and sat in the passenger's seat.

"How was school?" the woman asked, eyes on the road.

"Just fine. I got a 98.5 on the PSI," Nayana grumbled, taking her blue backpack off. Her books had been scrunched from the constricting attack.

"You make it sound like a bad thing," Nayana's grandma replied. "Anyone would kill for that kind of score. Don't go complaining about how it wasn't the best; be glad about what you got."

Nayana could only sigh. Her grandma was right, but she still wanted that perfect score to brag about. That, and it would make her look like a true genius, which she was not. She was only above average.

The next thing Nayana knew, she was walking out of the license place with her driver's license. It was a piece of cake getting it.

Next in her plans for the day was her homework. There wasn't much for Nayana to do, for no one except her math teacher had given out homework. She was glad as she went though her difficult math homework, punching numbers into her calculator.

After that, it was goof around until dinnertime. There wasn't much to do, since most of her friends never went out on a Monday night. So Nayana went to the recreation room and played some pool with some of the other residents of the huge apartment building.

Her grandma was a great cook, and she went overboard with dinner. It was everything Nayana could have ever wanted. Not a scrap of food was left; between Nayana and her grandma (who knew exactly how much she'd need to make), there were no leftovers.

"Good thing your father is gone," the woman said, "otherwise he'd be mad. Some of your favorites are his too." Then she smiled and went to doing dishes. Nayana then pulled out some ice cream and scooped some out for herself.

"You aren't going to the café?" Nayana's grandma asked while Nayana ate her vanilla ice cream.

"What, to go get a job application? Nah," she replied. "I don't want to be a waitress. Too boring. Yah, sure, the tips can be good, but other than that, I don't like it."

Nayana's grandma stared at her. She seemed quite shocked that Nayana wasn't jumping at the chance for a job, after begging her father to give her a car. Of course, her father said no, since Nayana needed to learn to get things herself.

"I thought you knew," she replied. "They have another company applying there. Today is the last day to pick applications. Why don't you check them out? I'm sure you'd like that job."

Nayana shrugged. She had nothing else better to do, and it was a job. As long as it wasn't waiting on tables or working in fast food, she was going to try it. She needed money if she wanted a car, and she had to pay insurance after that. So the girl quickly ate her ice cream, put her bowl in the sink and teleported to the café.

The café was on Main Street, and it usually had quite a bit of business. But today, it was busy for a Monday night. Many people were crowded around the glass doors of the Time Travel Café, wanting to get the applications as well.

"What kind of job is it?" Nayana asked a random teenager.

"The best job a psychic can get!" he replied, smiling. "This place is the only place in this part of the country handing them out. I can't believe my mom's letting me try out… I may get killed…"

Nayana glared. It didn't help her out much. What she wanted to know was exactly what this job was.

But soon she got into the building and was at a table. Only a few applications were left, and many people were fighting over them. Every single one of them ignored the now short line to the table. Ignoring them, Nayana went up to the long table.

"Can I have an application?" she asked, pointing to the envelope. The man nodded and handed her the last one.

Everything was in large tan envelope, and it was heavy for an application. Nayana could just see how much paperwork she had to fill out, and she didn't like paperwork too much. It was boring and dull, and Nayana hated the dull.

"That's it folks! Party's over! Get moving!" he announced. "We're out of applications!"

Disappointed, the others who had been fighting left the café. Nayana then took a seat at a table, wanting to know what she had just taken an application to. No one had told her what it was.

The manager, in a pink dress and a blue apron, passed her by. Her long hair was up in a hair net, and she was smiling. The woman liked Nayana's company, despite her flaws.

"Want anything to drink?" she asked.

"Nah, that's okay. I just want to see what this thing is," Nayana replied. "I want to know what I just picked up. Once I'm done, I'm going back home."

Laughing, the woman then went to the cash register, where a few were standing.

Slowly Nayana opened the folder. She dug around until she saw a pamphlet. It had the job information she was looking for. Curiously she took it out and opened it. The second she saw what was in it, she was glad she had taken the last application. It was the job for her.

The job was the Timetravelers. Just their name intrigued Nayana. It was obvious that they traveled though time (a more recent psychic discovery after doing studies on Celebi). Nayana had her time travel license, but had no use for it. Not just anyone could travel though time. One had to have a good excuse to, and that was extremely rare. Most people who learned it learned it because it made them feel smart.

Curious, she read the pamphlet.

_"The organization is run by the government. The job of the Timetravelers is to keep a close watch on time, and to make sure that no individual or organization messes with its well-being. _

_"The organization is separated into three groups: Group A, Group B, and the backup group, who are replacements in case one of the other groups needs it. Each group is led by two responsible Timetravelers and the Group Leader, who assigns the missions. _

_"The groups meet everyone Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 5:20 Central Time."_

Nayana liked the sound of the job. It was millions of times better than being a waitress. Quickly she put the pamphlet back in the tan folder and went home to talk to her grandma about it.

-tbc-  



	3. Chapter Two

Figures; this is better but no reviews yet. waits patiently  
  
---  
  
Chapter Two

Same day (November 20th)  
Cerulean City  
6:30 p.m.

There was a girl in the Pokémon Center of Cerulean City. She wore a short light-blue dress and kept her long red hair down. Almost everyone in the town knew her and thought that she was pretty. And every man in the center stared at her, admiring her beauty. None of them needed to heal their Pokémon; they just wanted to stare at the girl.

"Wow…" one man mumbled, staring at the redhead.

"She's amazing…" another said. "Just look at her…"

Meanwhile, the teenage girl stood as still as a board, backing up towards the wall, staring wide-eyed at them. She didn't exactly like their company; she was afraid of staring, drooling men. She never liked them, and they could be pretty fierce at times.

_Where's Greg anyway?_ she thought to herself, turning her attention to the glass doors of the center. _He SAID he'd be here… I want to know what this big surprise is and go home… they're staring at me… _ She then shivered, not wanting them to stare at her like that.

Soon, a black-haired boy about the girl's age came in, his left arm against his heavy winter coat. He wiped his now foggy glasses off, for snowflakes had been on them. He wore a pair of jeans, along with a pair of boots. It was one of the coldest and fiercest winters that Cerulean had had in years, and the worst that the girl and the boy had seen in their lives.

Quickly the girl put her coat on, cursing her outfit. It would be very cold out there, and she couldn't teleport like she usually could. She had been interviewed, and no one liked an unpatched psychic around machinery. The last thing she needed to do was get nervous and break it all.

"Can we go?" the girl asked. She then twisted her head at the men, as a way of signaling that she was creeped out by them.

"Yah, I got your surprise. Let's get going before those fanboys attack you," the teen mumbled, walking out of the center.

Both of them were out in the street. It was snowing heavily. The snow swirled around them as they walked with difficulty to a local restaurant. It was only down the street a short way, but it felt farther away with the wind blowing at their faces.

The restaurant wasn't busy, for most people were at home. Only a few employees were in the back, just in case someone wanted something to eat. The only other person there was a girl with long brown hair in a ponytail. She also wore a thick winter jacket and also wore a blue hat.

"What took you Greg?" the girl sitting down said. "You said you'd bring Arielle in a flash. I need to see flashing here…" she said, grinning mischievously.

"Shut up; I went as fast as I can. It was hard getting past all those rabid people to get the application. And thank god they didn't ask if I was psychic. If they did, I would have been busted and I would have never gotten this!" Greg yelled, pulling a large tan envelope out of his jacket.

Arielle stared at the envelope that was now on the table. It was quite thick.

"What is it?" she asked, staring at it.

"A job application for the Timetravelers. They pay big, you see. You know how Mom would like enough money to quit her job, and she has pay off the debt the family owes the league," the girl sitting at the table said. "By this time next year, we could be out of the gym and living somewhere else. Just think about it! Mom will be happy, we'll have some more spending money, and you won't have to perform anymore and have guys drooling all over you!"

Arielle picked up the packet. It was like a dream come true.

Currently she preformed at the gym to get publicity. She was paid very little for it, for she was only a demi-gym leader. They were not paid as much as the main gym leaders were per match, and Arielle almost never had to battle. Luckily her mother convinced the district manager to pay her a little more for bringing publicity to the gym.

"You mean it?" Arielle said, eyes sparkling, smile on her face.

"Of course!" Greg said. "We talked to some trusted contacts about it. If you practice your combat skills a bit more, they think you can get into Group A. You have the smarts to, just polish up on the skills, okay?"

Arielle nodded. It wouldn't be too hard to sneak out and practice her combat. Besides, her mother approved of self-defense. If she just said it was self-defense lessons, her mother wouldn't care.

"But… do we tell Mom?" Arielle asked. She was quite nervous, since her mother disapproved of psychic combat except for self-defense. The woman didn't like psychics at all, considering that they could easily defeat her, and maybe even her Pokémon if they were insane enough to try.

"Geesh, who do you think had the idea in the first place?" the girl at the table asked. "Mom would have asked if she wasn't at the Pokémon League convention. I know it's out of her character to ask you do kick ass for a job, but I guess she's that desperate for the money. Now let's go; we have to watch the gym still."

The other two nodded and went outside in the snow. It took a good fifteen minutes to walk back to the Cerulean City Gym, but soon they were inside the warm building.

The Pokémon Gym was looking the same as always. The yellow walls had picture of water Pokémon on them. Above the giant pool were the stands, which where clean. The pool had several water Pokémon floating around it in, having fun as always. A few floating boards were in the pool as well to keep trainers afloat while battling.

"I'm cold…" Arielle commented, rubbing her legs to keep them warm.

"Put some pants on," the other girl replied. "Or soak them in water. Last thing we need is to tell Mom we had to send you to the hospital because of frostbite. I'll stay out here, just in case someone is insane enough to want a battle in a snowstorm. You two can relax," the girl continued, jumping down into the pool area. She then sat down, waiting just in case. The girl did not take off her jacket, for the gym wasn't heated well.

Arielle nodded. Holding the packet, she went down to the lower levels of the gym. The area was where all the bedrooms were.

The girl had spent her whole life living in the gym. Her mother had to run it. The family was in debt to the Pokémon League, and they couldn't quit until it was paid off due to an old contract. It seemed a little unfair to Arielle, but there was nothing she could do about it. The contract could not be broken. She was stuck living in the gym until she was old enough to move out. That is, if she were one of the lucky two who would be able to leave. One would have to stay behind and be the gym leader when the mother eventually passed away, or got too old to even battle.

Arielle never liked doing matches. She had to do practice ones with the Gym Pokémon, and she had done a few official matches before, but she didn't enjoy it at all. Just thinking about spending the rest of her life fighting trainer after trainer made her upset.

_How does Mom even do it? It's boring,_ she thought to herself. _I couldn't run a Gym even if I wanted to. It would be worse than performing. Hopefully when we draw straws, it won't be me. That is, if we're still here… _

_I hope I get in,_ she continued, looking at the packet in her arms. It was her ticket out of the Gym and making everyone happy, if it was used right.

_We'd be much happier, not having to worry about the Gym, or the money we have to pay off…_

The girl soon found herself in her room. It was decorated nicely. A few posters were on the wall of her favorite things, like cute Pokémon and cute boys. A dresser had some perfume and makeup on the top. One wall had the closet, and against the opposite wall was the little bed with a pink quilt on top.

Next to the bed was an end table with a lamp and a few pictures on it. One was of her and her pet Skitty, a cute cat Pokémon. They were in the gym, Skitty in her arms. The other picture was of her, her mother and siblings. Her mother had orange hair and wore a dress similar to what Arielle had to wear.

Arielle and the other two didn't know who their father was; their mother never liked to mention it. The triplets could only wonder why their mother never mentioned him.

Arielle went to the closet and pulled out a pair of thick cloth pants. Quickly she put them on, along with a sweater. Next she pulled out the papers in the folder, got a pen and started to fill out the application. The sooner she filled it out, the better. But soon the power went out, and Arielle lied down on her bed, thinking about her past. It was one of the few things that didn't require electricity.

flashback

_Arielle was about thirteen, and she had just finished her first performance. It was the scariest thing she had ever done in her life. Everyone, even television cameras, was staring at her. Arielle didn't like it at all, but she knew she had to do it. That was the only thing that kept her going that day. If that weren't there, she would have run out in the beginning. _

_The girl was drying off near the pool. Her sister Ashley, who didn't have to perform because she wasn't as "pretty" as Arielle, gave her a towel. The girl felt guilty, since Arielle hated to perform. _

_"You did pretty good," Ashley said. "You did better than I could have." _

_Arielle took the towel. Quickly she dried herself off, feeling cold. Once she was satisfied she draped it around her shoulders. _

_"Where's Mom?" Arielle asked. _

_"I donno, I think she's talking to the press about the performance," Ashley replied. "I'll go look." _

_Soon Ashley was gone, and her mother came by. She wore a pink dress similar to Arielle's. The woman had also preformed, being the Gym Leader. Her short hair was still dripping. _

_"Are you okay?" she asked with concern. Arielle nodded, still scared and upset about performing. _

_"Do I have to do it again?" Arielle asked. "Because I didn't like it…" _

_She could tell that it upset her mother to see her so upset over performing. _

_"Sadly, yes. We really need the money, you see…" the woman trailed off, and Arielle thought she was guilty for making her daughter perform just for the money, or so her facial expression showed. _

_Arielle sighed. She looked down to her feet. The girl didn't want to perform like her mother did week after week. One performance was bad enough, but more? It was torture, plain and simple. _

_"Why?" she mumbled to herself. "Why me?" _

_Her mother then turned to her. _

_"One day, you'll never have to do this. I promise…"_

The last line kept ringing though Arielle's head. The girl couldn't wait until she could quit performing. She then started thinking about how different her life would be without performing, or having to worry about a gym, or not having to worry about such a big debt…

The next thing Arielle knew, she was snoozing quietly on her bed.

-tbc-


	4. Chapter Three

Excuse if some of the thoughts aren't itaicised; I messed up on the html  
---  
  
Chapter Three

The next day (Tuesday, November 21st)  
Viridian City  
3:30 p.m.

Nayana was busy doing her homework. Unlike yesterday, she had been given tons of homework to do from two of her teachers. It was annoying to her.

_This is gonna take me all night… _she thought to herself as she put numbers into her calculator_. __And it's just my luck that Dad comes home tonight, eh? We're supposed to go to the mall even, but knowing him, it'll be homework, homework, homework. It's always school over pleasure. I don't like it._

So she then went as fast as she could, wanting badly to go out once her father arrived from the airport. Luckily for her, she was able to finish her math and get almost all of her English homework done before she heard a knock on the apartment door.

"I got it," Nayana's grandma said, rushing to the door. As fast as her old body could take her, she went up to the door and opened it.

The first thing Nayana saw was a yellow mouse run up to her. He was a small thing; the Pokémon didn't even go up to Nayana's knee. With speed the Pokémon then hopped onto her shoulder. Nayana smiled. She adored the Pokémon when he was cute and friendly.

Meanwhile, the man in the doorway turned blue. Everyone seemed to pay attention to his yellow Pokémon before they paid attention to him. First he dropped his bags in the doorway, and then he took the jacket off of his suit.

"Why does Pikachu get more attention than me?" the black-haired man asked, staring at his Pokémon. Pikachu smiled mischievously in return.

"Oh hello Ash," Nayana's grandmother said casually, as if she didn't care if he was there or not.

"Hi Dad," Nayana said with a big smile. Quickly she got up and gave her father a big hug. She was sure to stick out her tongue at Pikachu in the process.

"Sooo… didya get me something?" Nayana said quickly, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Huh huh huh?" she begged, smiling. Ash glared back at her.

"Be patient. I was getting there, I have to unpack first." The man then picked up his bags, and then walked with them to his room. "Finish your homework."

Slowly Nayana went back to her homework. She had to finish a couple of problems before she was done. They were done with speed. Unfortunately for her, her father was a slow unpacker. It shocked her, since her father was usually sloppy. So the girl then paced outside of her father's bedroom door. Pikachu was sitting outside of the door, waiting for Ash to come out too.

"I bet YOU know what he got me," Nayana said to the mouse Pokémon, quite jealous. "You father hogger."

"Pika Pikapi Pikachu!" Pikachu replied in an angry tone.

"I bet you just insulted me," Nayana said, glaring at the Pokémon fiercely.

Pikachu then stuck his pink tongue out at the girl, as to taunt her. Enraged by the Pokémon's tactics, the girl concentrated and made a sphere of psychic energy. In turn, yellow sparks came out of Pikachu's pink cheeks.

"You're going DOWN you little rat!" Nayana yelled, ready to hit Pikachu with the ball of energy.

Before anyone could attack, Ash came out of the bedroom. He had changed clothes as well. Currently he wore tan shorts and a red Hawaiian shirt. Both Nayana and Pikachu stopped, not wanting him to know they were fighting. He would break it up and they would get in trouble.

"Where is it?" she demanded, holding out her hand in a "gimmie!" fashion. Sighing, the man went back to his room. He had forgotten to get it. Nayana was tempted to kick Pikachu while her father had his back turned, but she knew better. Pikachu would shock her anyway.

Nayana and Pikachu usually got along well. Both of them liked each other's company. But there were at times fierce rivals, both wanting all of Ash's attention. Usually Nayana won, since she was human and his daughter. Humans needed much more attention and care than a Pokémon did, and it made Pikachu jealous. And then there were the few times that Pikachu won, and Nayana would be angry. But they never fought in front of him, for he would be upset and angry.

Soon he came back out, and he gave Nayana a box. It was full of tourist items from Hawaii, where the meeting had been. She found room for it in her currently messy room and went back out to the living room.

Next, it was a trip to the mall. Nayana knew exactly what she wanted as they walked into the immense mall. Quickly she went to the stores that had what she wanted, and she bought various items with her birthday money. And reluctantly Ash followed along. Unless he was doing the shopping, he hated the mall. He still thought that women shopped too much.

The next thing everyone knew, Nayana was out of money. It was time to go home.

They found trouble at the door.

The black-haired girl that had tried to beat Nayana and an older orange-haired woman were walking into the mall. Both of them wore red-violet clothes, and the older woman was glaring sternly. She looked like she wanted to rip something apart.

"But mother, she's purple! She'll rip us both apart if we fight her! I'm not ready to take your place yet!" the black-haired girl insisted, trying her best to convince her mother not to fight. The girl felt that she didn't have the responsibility to take her mother's place.

"No," the woman replied sternly. "The girl must die. I've been training for years for this moment!" she yelled, startling a few people around her. "And you will either fight by my side or go home!"

The girl then followed her mother, still nervous. She knew that she was going to get beaten.

Ash and Nayana then bumped into the hostile strangers. Everyone had gotten hit on the head because of the contact, and then fell down to the ground.

"Ow!" Nayana and the black-haired girl replied.

The orange-haired woman laughed.

"I have you BOTH where I want you!" she yelled joyfully, glad that she had gotten a two for one deal.

At first, Nayana was confused. She had not recognized the woman, but soon it hit her. Nayana didn't like whom she had bumped into.

"What are YOU doing here?" Nayana yelled. "I was having a wonderful day until YOU came in and ruined it!"

"Well, that's what I'm here for, runt," the woman replied. Next, the woman reached into her purse and pulled out a silver handgun. "It's time for you to DIE!"

"Hey!" Ash yelled. "Don't you dare shoot her Adia!"

The woman smiled mischievously. "I was always under the impression that you never gave a damn about what happened to the runt. But then again, that was years ago when she was still an infant. I guess you attitude has changed since then. It'll be nice to see you suffer a bit before you die," she said evilly. She then smiled, thinking about the family suffering. It was her favorite thing to see.

"And how would YOU know?" Nayana yelled.

"I stalk you, simple as that. I wanted you to suffer since day one. Unfortunately you are always too damn happy. Besides, I cannot let you become what you will become!"

"Wha?" the Ketchums replied, confused out of their mind.

Shaking her head, the woman held the gun to Nayana's head. Before she could shoot, the mall security guards came in. Both the girl and Adia went away, not wanting to get caught and go to jail. That was the last thing they needed.

"I hate my mother," Nayana replied. Adia wasn't the caring mother that Nayana always wanted, and it angered Nayana to no end.

The woman was evil. On her long list of horrible things she had done, one was abandon Nayana. Child Services did the DNA tests and took her to her father, who had taken her in. Nayana now wasn't sure how willing he had been but all that mattered was that he was willing now.

Nayana had met her mother when she was ten, and she did not enjoy it. Adia had kidnapped her and tried to kill her. Of course, Nayana was upset. She had always wanted a nice mother, one who cared about her. She had begged her father to get her a mother many times, only to get shot down. He insisted that he had too many things to worry about, let alone trying to get a woman.

The family then sighed and went home. They had things to do.

-tbc-

This chapter took forever for me to get down. Damn my fear of introducing Ash. insert aggrivated smilie here


	5. Chapter Four

Yay, two reviews! At this rate this one might have more reviews than the original! XD  
On a diffrent note, I like the end part of this chapter.  
  
---  
  
Chapter Four

December 21st, 2022 (Friday)  
Viridian City  
8:00 a.m.

Nayana had gotten out of school for the tryouts. She was quite lucky to even be at this level of the tryouts; her "blood ties" almost got her application into the shredder at the headquarters, or so the investigator told her. Luckily, all the times she had helped other people got her investigated before they accepted the application. And, of course, the investigator that had come the previous night found nothing.

_All right, I'm getting in…_ Nayana thought, walking into the tryout area.

It was a psychic college, of sorts. It was the Psychic Institute of Viridian City, a place where psychic research was done and where psychics in the western part of Kanto went to college (considering that most places didn't accept psychic students).

The area that Nayana was in was a place that she was quite familiar with: the training rooms. Many holographic rooms had some of the five hundred people applying for the job in them, fighting in the situation the holographic room gave. Others stood around the rooms, waiting for their turn to get in. Some were done, and most of them had bruises and bumps on them. The holograms were quite painful, despite being illusions.

In front of Nayana was a table. In a blue baseball cap with "Group A tryout numbers" on it were scraps of paper. On the scraps of paper were a number and a letter. That would tell her when she would go.

She pulled out a slip of paper. It read "135-a".

_Man, 135? It'll take FOREVER to go…_ Nayana thought to herself. _Whatever. Guess I'll sit down and watch everyone else get their ass kicked by a bunch of holographic losers._

And so Nayana found a seat in the area and waited for the others to try out. Some came out looking just fine while some others weren't so lucky. Nayana laughed at the ones with the bruises, and they shook their heads in return. It was truly hard for them, but not for Nayana. Ever since she was ten, she had practiced her combat at least once a week, if not three, and sometimes even five. Even when she was little, she had liked to fight using her powers. She wouldn't be as good as she was now without the constant training.

It was 11:20 when Nayana's number was called. Quickly she got up and went to the training room she had been told to go to.

At the training room Nayana would run in was a girl. Nayana was shocked to see a girl like her trying out. She wore a tight pair of jean flares, a cute pink shirt and a pair of flip-flops. It was quite "preppy", which Nayana imagined wasn't exactly Timetraveler material. The girl from Viridian could never work in that; she needed looser jeans and tennis shoes otherwise she would do horribly in a training room. She had learned that the hard way a long time ago.

"You're gonna do a run in the room with THAT?" Nayana asked, looking at the redhead. "Flip-flops? Tight jeans? How can you MOVE in that? I'd get my butt kicked if I did a high-level run in that outfit."

The girl turned and smiled. "I practice."

"Yah, riiight," Nayana replied, rolling her eyes. The girl seemed quite preppy, and Nayana had never seen preps train at high levels before. They always stuck to the low levels, so they wouldn't get bruised. "We'll just see how well you do in the training room."

Soon they went into the training room. When they first entered, it was a small room with green tiles all over. The room then turned into an alleyway, and many holographic enemies appeared for the two girls to take down. Despite the redhead's looks, she was pretty decent. The girl could use her head, and that was what was keeping her from not getting hit. But the girl didn't seem to want to be that violent to the holographic enemies, being hesitant about her attacks. That made Nayana raise her eyebrows.

_Why would anyone who really doesn't want to hurt anyone try out for an organization where all they do **is** hurt people?_ she thought to herself. But soon she had to turn her attention to the enemy behind her.

The enemies were down in record time for Nayana (she wasn't sure about the redhead working with her). Outside the room, the operator stared at them with awe.

"That's the best I've seen in a long time!" he said, still shocked. "I bet you two will get in without any problems."

"Yay!" the redhead replied, putting her flip-flops back on. She had not worn them during the run.

"Of course _I_ would get in without any problems. I'm me, Nayana, and I am the best!"

The other two stared at the girl like she was crazy. It seemed that they didn't like Nayana's attitude. Quietly she stretched out and went to grab lunch.

Nayana went to the cafeteria. Many of the college students were in there, along with the other people trying out. The ones trying out stuck out like a sore thumb; the college students wore blue uniforms while the people trying out did not. As fast as she could, she got in line, got her lunch and took one of the few empty tables.

Before Nayana could take a bite of the spaghetti on her plate, the redhead from before walked over to the table. She held a tray with spaghetti and a salad on it.

"Can I sit with you?" she asked quietly. "I don't know anyone here, and I'm kinda nervous."

"Uh, sure."

Gracefully the redhead then took a seat. Slowly she ate her lunch, while Nayana took the opposite approach and ate as fast as she could. Soon Nayana was done and the redhead had just gotten to her salad.

"So why is someone like you trying out for the Timetravelers? You don't seem as violent as the others I've seen," the orange haired girl said, leaning back in her chair.

"Well," the redhead replied, swallowing the food in her mouth, "I want to help my family. I need money, and everyone said this job has lots of it. Besides, it shouldn't be that hard to beat people up… right?"

"Depends on who we're talking about and how much skill they have. Team Rocket grunts are much more skilled than what you get in a hologram, and they can think, " Nayana replied. "So, what's your name?"

As soon as the girl finished chewing her lettuce, she replied.

"Arielle. You're Nayana, right?" she asked, then taking another bite of her salad. Nayana nodded in reply, watching Arielle eat her lunch. It was making her hungry again.

Arielle then ate her salad, wanting to get done before the next part of tryouts. Luckily for her, when she was done some people were still coming for lunch.

"I'm just curious, but what kind of job do your parents have?" Nayana asked. "Because if you're desperate to get this job, they must have shit for jobs. No offence," she added quickly, not wanting the girl to get offended. She seemed upset by Nayana just asking the question.

"It's a really long story… my mom's a gym leader though," Arielle responded, spacing off.

Nayana was surprised. From what she had heard from her father, gym leaders had enough money and some to save if they got enough matches. The gym leader either loved money or was extremely wasteful of the money she was given.

"Which one?" Nayana asked. "My father runs the Pokémon League, so I bet I know them."

There were only a few that Nayana didn't know personally, but she had battled them all, back when she was teleporting for badges. The girl trained Pokémon for fun, and she had a family name to upkeep.

"Misty Williams," Arielle replied.

Nayana sighed. That was the only gym leader she had only battled and never seen again. But then again, the gym leader had an attitude, so Nayana never wanted to see her again. At the end of the match, the woman was yelling at her, telling her to get out of the gym or she would beat the pulp out of Nayana. Nayana had done nothing to the woman but beat her in a Pokémon battle. She didn't even talk trash like she would with other gym leaders, since the gym leader seemed annoyed from the start. It seemed that the gym leader had been angry by her just walking into her gym, let alone challenging her.

"Hahaha, the mean one," Nayana replied. "No offence," she again added quickly. Arielle had tears in her eyes, and Nayana didn't want her to start crying. "She was a real… er… mean gym leader when I went against her. I've never seen her since the match, and I really don't want to if she's always like that."

Arielle nodded, trying her best not to get upset. Her mother had been known to be mean to a few challengers. Usually it was when the triplets were getting on her nerves and the challenger was stomping her to no end. Then Misty would explode at challenger and usually the triplets for bothering her. And then afterwards the woman would stomp out and come back hours later, apologizing for even being rude in the first place. But it would be too late to say sorry to the poor challenger, who would have been long gone from the woman with the weird mood swings.

"She's weird at times," Arielle replied. "You must have gotten her on one of the bad days."

"I guess. Hey, are you going drink your milk?" Nayana asked, pointing to the carton of chocolate milk that Arielle had received with her meal. Shaking her head, the redhead gave Nayana the milk. Next, Nayana chugged it, still quite thirsty.

"What about your father? Do you have one?" Nayana asked. "Because if you do, that doesn't explain why you don't have money."

"Not living with us. All I know is he pays child support for the three of us," Arielle replied, trying to eat the rest of her salad. Soon it was finished, and her lunch was done.

As soon as Arielle threw out her tray, it was time for the other part of tryouts. Everyone was ready to try out.

-tbc-


	6. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Same time and place 

Nayana and Arielle walked down to the training rooms again, where only eighteen others stood. They were the ones trying out for Group A, the hardest group to get into. 

Next, three others walked into the area. One, a middle-aged man with brown hair, held a clipboard with the tryout's names. A green-haired male and female stood to the man's sides, both looking about the age of eighteen or nineteen. The older man wore a black suit, while the other two wore black clothes. Everything, from their shoes to the barrettes in the girl's hair was black. It amazed the others to see someone wear that much black. 

"Welcome!" the middle-aged man said. "My name is Charles Denter, but you may call me Charley if you wish. You all have made it past the first part of tryouts. But now, you must undergo the second part of tryouts. These are the only two from last year that are advancing to next year: Lance Grenino and Lucille DelRosen. They are trained quite well, and I think you'll find them quite hard to beat. Right guys?" 

Lance was casually staring at Arielle, who was staring at Charley, waiting to hear what was next. Lucille was spacing off, not wanting to fight any of the others. 

"Ahem!" Charley yelled. Startled, the two turned their attention back to the man. "You will be hard to beat, right?" 

"Of course!" they replied. 

"Good. So I'm going to randomly select who will battle who, using this handy computer over here," Charley continued. The man then took a seat at the training room's central computer center. He made the room show a basic room instead of the odd green tiles. Next, he put names into the computer, and soon it had the matches on paper. 

"First will be Nayana versus Lucille. Get into the training room and show me what you got!" 

Nayana followed the older teenager into the room. Once inside, Nayana took a better look at the girl. Her hair was short, with black barrettes keeping it from her eyes. She wore a short loose skirt, black boots and a tank top. Her gray eyes showed her fierceness. 

"You fight in that?" Nayana asked, shocked by her outfit. 

"Yah, and I'm one of the best," Lucille replied. "Now forget my clothes and prepare to go down, you newb!" she yelled, pointing at Nayana. 

To start off the match, Lucille inflicted much pain on Nayana's legs. If her legs were sore, she would not run and dodge as fast. Nayana knew this strategy, and knew how to counter it. Soon she reversed the pain and inflicted it on Lucille. Unfortunately for Nayana, her boots reflected any psychic powers. 

"Hahaha, many people do that. It makes sense, eh? Sometimes boots like this can actually help you, not slow you down," Lucille said, pointing down to her boots. 

Next, Nayana formed a sphere of psychic energy. Knowing better than to aim for the lower body, Nayana took a shot at the upper body. However, Lucille saw it coming and blocked it before it could inflict any harm to her. 

"Think again!" Lucille said, sticking her tongue at the frustrated teenager. "Sometimes it's not power but strategy that wins you battles!" 

"I've heard that too many times from my father," Nayana mumbled. "Like he uses much strategy." 

Nayana then decided to be adventurous. Sometimes, trying new things that no one had thought of before would win a person their match. The opponent wouldn't see it coming. 

The teenager then focused her power on her hands again, but in a different way. She put her hands next to each other and tried to keep her mind clear enough to imagine a beam coming out of them. Not many liked to imitate the moves of Psychic Pokémon, but sometimes, it would benefit. 

Unfortunately, nothing came out of her hands. There was a purple aura around them, but nothing more. The attempt at a beam attack had failed, for her mind had not stayed clear. She had been thinking about how people would react when they saw a new move like that. 

_Damnit, I need to keep my imagination on the match, not on fame! … But that's so hard…_ Nayana thought. 

"What was that?" Lucille asked, hands on her hips. "Come on, you should try to attack me, not try to be pretty with your poses." 

Enraged, Nayana tried another sphere of purple energy. The girl attempted to hit the girl on the head, only to be yelled at by Charley. It was a cheap and quite illegal move, and only people like Team Rocket tried to do such moves. Nayana then blushed, thinking about how stupid she had been to even try. The anger had gotten to her head. 

Next, Lucille took the offensive. The girl charged towards Nayana, creating an invisible barrier right in front of her. When Lucille was near enough, the barrier hit Nayana. It was a painful technique that felt like getting tackled in football without your equipment on. In much pain, Nayana fell to the floor. Her head hurt, which was the worst thing that could possibly happen in the match. 

_How am I supposed to concentrate when I have a headache?_ Nayana thought. Pushing the headache problem aside as best she could, the teenager got up, still determined to fight Lucille. 

"What, your headache isn't that bad?" Lucille said. "You can't concentrate while your head is throbbing…" she said, evil grin on her face. Nayana could feel it more when Lucille mentioned it. 

Again Nayana put her hands next to each other. She needed something magic to happen before her headache got too bad. Keeping everything aside, the girl then concentrated her power into a beam form. 

The power flew out of her hands freely, so much so that Nayana flew back to the wall. Growing bigger as it got farther, the intense beam of purple energy flew at amazing speeds towards Lucille. The woman could not counter the attack, and she fell to the ground. The beam had more punch than her barrier attack could ever have. 

"Owwwwwww…" Lucille said, putting her hand up to her head. "I have too much of a headache to continue. I give." 

Nayana was too shocked by what she had just pulled off to care. The move had amazing power and potential. The strongest moves were always too risky to pull off, until now. The new attack had enough energy to pack a powerful punch, yet was tame enough to use in everyday battle. 

"I'm a genius!" Nayana said, grinning. 

"Yah yah, just get out of the room so we can continue," Lance said out of the room. Nayana could hear the toughness in his voice. She stared into his seemingly orange eyes, seeing a roughness much stronger than Lucille. Nayana then wished she had gone against him, for he had more promise of a good match than Lucille. 

"Fine, fine, I'll leave," Nayana said, staring at the man. Ignoring the teenager, Lance stared at the computer, wondering what his opponent was. 

There were a few matches before Arielle had to battle. She had to go against Lance instead. 

"Haha, she's screwed," the others said, knowing how tough Lance was compared to Lucille. Unlike Lucille, he used brute strength to win battles, something they weren't sure that Arielle could cope with. 

Arielle was extremely scared when she entered the room with the man. He was a few inches taller than her, and was slightly muscular. His eyes were shaped like he was permanently glaring at whoever happened to look at him. It creeped out Arielle. 

"Ready to be stomped?" Lance asked, staring at the teenager. Gulping, Arielle nodded. She would give it her all to get in. 

The match started off fast. Immediately Lance went towards the offensive with ball after ball of blue psychic energy, leaving the girl to dodge or to try to block. The girl soon found herself tiring out. 

_I'm dead… I'm **dead…**_ she thought to herself as dodging yet another ball of energy. The man was too much of a challenge for her, and she knew it. But soon she started thinking about how she had gotten this far, and the look on her family's face when they found out she had given up in the end without trying. It gave her the motivation to go on. 

The girl then took note of how Lance was battling. Arielle was good at making strategies on top of her head. Soon she found out how she could possibly turn the match around, hopefully in her favor. 

As Lance threw yet another ball at Arielle, she blocked it with a barrier. Swiftly the ball went towards him, and Lance had to dodge. Again Lance threw a ball and again Arielle blocked it. Arielle had the strength advantage, being at an amazing 8.4, while Lance was at 8.0. 

So Lance threw the balls of psychic energy only to dodge them. Soon Lance knew he had to change his strategy or the match would never end. He inflicted pain throughout the girl's body. 

Arielle was unused to being constricted like what Lance was doing to her. Her loud scream filled the room, and the man cringed. The girl then thought the opposite, and it came though. The pain was gone. Then she tried it on him. It took the man longer to break out, since Arielle was stronger. 

"You're tougher than you look," Lance said. "You look like a prep. No matter. It ends here." 

The man then charged at Arielle, hoping to just knock her to the ground. Nervous, the girl dodged to the side. Enraged, the man tried again, this time putting up a barrier. Luckily, the girl thought he might try and made a barrier of her own. The barriers crashed, making an area of psychic energy. 

"STOP!" Charley yelled. "The energy will harm you both! There's too much! You're too even!" 

Quickly Arielle stopped, but Lance did not. In one cheap shot, he knocked Arielle to the ground. The girl could no longer take battling the fierce competitor. She had gotten a headache. 

Upset, the girl got up. Tears formed in her eyes. She had lost, and she felt that she would not get in because of it. 

_I lost… now what?_ she thought, going outside the room. Smiling, Charley handed the girl some aspirin. Gladly the girl took it, wanting to get rid of her headache. 

Nayana looked at the girl. Arielle had come out of the match better than the others who had gone against Lance did. But then again, Nayana had noticed that Lance seemed to have battled differently than with the others. 

"Haha, he was holding back," Lucille said, looking at Arielle. "She's not very bruised at all. He tore up the other two," she continued, pointing to the two very bruised ones that had gone up against him. Both of them were holding their heads. "So unlike him. But then again, he was looking at her earlier. That's unlike him too." 

Lance glared at Lucille, silencing her. 

Eventually, everyone had gone against one of the Timetravelers. Nayana was the only one to win against either of them. But Nayana had won cheaply, so it really wasn't a win in everyone else's book. Everyone else had been beaten, most quite badly. 

"Not bad at all!" Charley said. "No blood this year. Someone even won, although it was by sheer luck," he said, staring at her, "and that hasn't happened yet. I think this will be one of the best years ever!" 

Nayana and Arielle stared at the man. They wondered how bad it usually was, if Charley was surprised that no blood had been drawn. Arielle then imagined someone in a bloody mess, and she felt sick to her stomach. The girl was disgusted by blood. 

"Why is it so tough?" Nayana asked. 

"We train tough," Charley replied. "If we didn't, we'd be stomped every day by the competition. Anyway, I have the list here. I combined the scores between how long you lasted against the Timetraveler you faced and the training room time and ten with the best times are hired. Thank you all for trying out. If you didn't get in, better luck next time." 

The man then posted a list. Ten other names were on it. Everyone crowded around the list, hoping that his or her name was on it. 

Nayana was in no way shocked to see her name at the top of the list. She was fast in the training room, and she was the only one to defeat the Timetraveler she faced. 

_All right, I got in,_ she thought, grinning. _Money! And revenge against my mother. And maybe if we can get rid of Team Rocket, we'll be famous!_

Meanwhile, Arielle was biting her nails, looking for her name on the list. Swiftly she looked down on the list, getting more disappointed as she went down. The girl hadn't seen her name on the top six, or seven, or eight, or nine… 

Her name was number ten on the list. 

"YAY!" she yelled, startling the people around her. Arielle was quite a loud girl. 

"The first meeting shall be the seventh of January in the Pokémon Center, at 7 a.m. CENTRAL TIME! Be late and face the consequences! E-mails or phone calls will be sent out on the sixth to remind you. Bring nothing. You won't need anything," Charley said. "I shall be seeing you then." 

Everyone in the room then left to tell their family the news, whether good or bad. 

-tbc-


	7. Chapter Six

Well, this chapter is more of a filler, but oh well. I had fun typing it up, that's for sure. D 

Chapter Six

same time  
Cerulean City 

Arielle teleported home, excited. The gym was quite busy, with a line of trainers trying to get badges before the holidays, for the gym would be closed from Christmas Eve to the day after New Years. Every trainer stared at the girl, who went in front of the line outside the gym. 

"Hey!" the trainer nearest the door said, pushing her aside. "No cutting!" 

"This is my home!" Arielle said. "I have to get inside!" She then pointed to her feet, which were still clad in flip-flops and a pink pair of toe socks. 

The boy rolled his eyes. He did not believe her, since he had never seen her in his life. The boy had never been to the performances, not one to watch a bunch of Pokémon and two beautiful women in a giant pool. 

"Get back in line!" the girl behind him yelled. "You have to wait like everyone else!" 

Luckily Arielle was always prepared for the holiday rush. She went into her back pocket, where she kept her Gym Leader's license. No one would tell her go get back in line if she were a Gym Leader. In fact, she would be treated very well if she had her license on her. 

But her ID was not there. The only thing that was there was spare change from lunch. 

_Oh no…_ she thought, going though both of her back pockets. It was not there. Then the girl remembered that it was on her dresser. It was bad luck for the girl, who was still standing in the snow. 

"Uh… Just let me in, this is my home, honest!" Arielle said, begging the boy. She then moved her feet around to keep them warmer. They were getting cold fast. 

"No! Wait in line like the rest of us!" the boy yelled, pushing Arielle into a snow pile near the door. A tear went down her face. 

"Let me in!" she yelled, tears freely running down her face. "I'm cold!" 

It was all the boy needed to walk to the side and let the girl into the warm gym. Arielle smiled. Tears always seemed to get her what she wanted. 

Inside, it was mayhem. Ten trainers were sitting in the stands, cheering on the challenger. Misty was standing on one platform, while a girl with black pigtails was standing on the opposite one. The match was already underway, with a Seel going up against a pretty Bellossom. The white seal Pokémon floated in the water, sharp horn pointed towards the green Pokémon with flowers on its head. The green flower Pokémon was not intimidated by the looks of the Seel. 

_Mom's gonna lose this one,_ Arielle thought to herself. _Bellossom has the type advantage. But who knows?_

Ignoring the match, Arielle walked on to the downstairs area. If she disturbed her mother in a middle of a match, she would get quite angry. The woman needed her concentration. And if she was already in a bad mood, it would be a disaster. 

Downstairs, Greg was in his room. It was completely dark, except for the faint glow of the computer screen. Greg was typing at amazing speeds, speeds that Arielle wished she could type at. The girl was fast, but not as fast as her computer-loving brother. 

"Hey Greg, guess what?" Arielle said, grin still on her face. 

"That I'm going to pound your head in for bothering me?" Greg yelled, staring at the girl in the doorway. 

"No, I got in!" 

The boy then ignored the fact that his private space had been intruded. It was good news, instead of her babble. Smiling, the boy gave a thumbs-up to Arielle. 

"I knew you'd make it in if you tried. Now make sure you don't get fired and make lots of money," Greg said. "Oh, and next time… KNOCK!!!" he added, glaring at his sister. 

Apologizing, the girl then closed his bedroom door and went on to her sister's bedroom. 

The girl's bedroom door was open a crack. Arielle could see Ashley putting on her snow boots when she peeked into the crack. The girl then invited Arielle to open her door and talk to her. 

Ashley's room was plain. The walls were a faint blue color, with nothing hanging on them. There was an old dresser against one wall, and the bed with a blue quilt was on the perpendicular wall. Everything else was in the closet that was tied closed. The doors were broken and wouldn't shut. 

Arielle sat on the girl's bed and watched her put on her left boot. 

"Hey Arielle," Ashley said. "Did you make it?" 

"Yah!" Arielle replied, smiling. 

"Make any friends in the process?" Ashley asked. Arielle had no friends, since she stayed in the gym all day and they were home schooled. 

"I talked to someone during lunch… Does that count?" Arielle asked in return, still watching Ashley put on her boot. Now she was tying up the long brown laces. 

"Sure, why not?" Ashley said. "Well, that's good. I have to make Pokémon Center runs, and the snow is knee-high. How did you get though in flip-flops?" she asked, staring at the girl's feet. 

"Teleporting." 

Ashley stared at Arielle with envy. Arielle was the only one in the house that was psychic, and it boggled Arielle's other siblings. No one on their mother's side of the family had been psychic, and they didn't know anything about their father, let alone his side of the family. 

" At least there isn't a storm out," Ashley said, glad tone in her voice. "Then I would force you to do them instead." Still envious, Ashley then stuck her tongue out at Arielle and left. 

Next stop on Arielle's list of things to do was her room. Her pet Skitty was sleeping on the end of her bed. Smiling, Arielle then took off her flip-flops and exchanged them for warm slippers that covered all of her feet. After that, she put on a coat, for the heater wasn't working very well. The girl was quite chilly. Then, she made sure that her license was on her dresser and went back up to gym area to watch matches. 

Arielle had been right; the Bellossom was dominating the match upstairs. There was only one Pokémon left, and it was a Goldeen. 

The trainer yelled out a command to the Pokémon. Out of nowhere, light pink petals appeared. They swirled gracefully around the flower Pokémon, and then they started floating towards the Goldeen in the water. The petals went faster, at deadly speeds, until they hit the Goldeen. Severely hurt, the Goldeen then flipped over, eyes turning into x's. It no longer had the energy to fight. 

Not very upset that it was down, the gym leader returned it into its red and white pokéball. 

With speed the trainer ran up to her Bellossom. The girl picked the light Pokémon up and hugged it. 

"We did it Bell! We beat her!" she yelled, now holding the Pokémon up in the air. 

Next she stopped holding it up and rushed to the gym leader. She was reaching into a box, where many Cascade Badges were. Next, she took one and put it in the girl's palm. The girl looked very excited to have gotten a badge. There was a big smile on her face. 

"You did a good job," Misty said. "Good luck, and happy holidays!" she said, smiling. 

"Okay, you too!" the girl replied, putting the small blue badge into her coat pocket. 

As soon as the girl was away from the gym area, Ashley came in. The girl took the three pokéballs her mother gave her and started the walk to the Pokécenter. 

Arielle smiled. Her mother was in a good mood today, since her smile didn't seem forced. She was quite happy today. That meant that she would not yell at her if she talked to her. 

"Hi Mom!" Arielle said, walking down into the gym area. The woman smiled and sat down, bringing her thick brown coat closer to her. 

"How did it go? Did you get in?" Misty asked. 

"Yah, I did," Arielle said, smiling. "I think I may even have a friend! She was really nice, but she kept bragging," she continued, thinking about how Nayana bragged. IT was quite annoying. 

"That's good news," Misty replied. She seemed much happier now than she did before Arielle came down, and that made Arielle happy. The last thing she wanted was her mother to get angry. 

"Having fun?" Arielle asked, wanting to make conversation while her mother was still in a good mood. 

"Is going against trainer after trainer day after day fun?" she replied. "After doing it for years, no. I loved it when I first became a gym leader though. I rarely battled until I was able to become a Gym Leader. I love Pokémon training." 

"Pokémon Training is never fun," Arielle mumbled, looking to the water to avoid her mother. Arielle knew that her mother was not very pleased about her not liking to train. Her mother loved to train Pokémon, even if running a gym was boring. 

"I think so, and so do your siblings. Your ancestors trained too, and they never found being with Pokémon dull," misty said. "You're the family oddball, not liking it." 

Arielle got up. Ashley had done a quick run, and the Pokémon were back. The brown-haired girl then walked down into the gym area, and Arielle started walking away. 

"Oh well," she said. "Well, I guess you have to battle now. Have fun." 

Her mother giggled as the girl went back to her room. 

Viridian City 

Meanwhile, Nayana had gone home. There was a note on the apartment door. 

_"Gone to get food. Be back soon. Don't eat anything. I'm making dinner as soon as I get back. - Dad"_

Nayana felt sick to her stomach just thinking about her father cook. He wasn't good at cooking anything but bachelor food (which was what they ate the most, other than fast food). Nayana was the one that usually cooked dinners. They weren't any good compared to her grandma or her father's friend Brock, but they were much better than her father's horrifying cooking. 

"Haha, he'll never know if I sneak in a cookie or two," Nayana said, reaching into her coat pocket. A package of cookies from a bakery was there from the day before. Then Nayana noticed a PS on the note. 

_"P.S. I know you have cookies. Don't you dare eat them! Put them on the counter or ELSE!"_

"Damn, Dad knows too much," Nayana said, pulling out her keys. Soon the girl was inside, and she put the cookies on the counter like instructed to. 

The TV was on the Pokémon Trainer's Channel. Wanting to keep herself entertained, Nayana sat down on the white couch and started watching. It was about how to have Pokémon prepared for anything in a battle. Nayana yawned; it was really basic stuff. She then wondered why her father had even kept it on this channel. He was a Pokémon Master, and knew the basics like the back of his hand. 

"And remember folks, feed your Pokémon Pokémon Food made just for them!" the man in a suit said. "Stop by your local breeder's shop to figure out what your Pokémon need." 

"Booooring…" Nayana said, concentrating on the remote. Quickly it flew into her outstretched hand, and she changed the channel. 

Ash came home to see her daughter watching mindless Pokémon cartoons. 

"Hey Dad. You're going to poison me again?" Nayana asked. "Haven't you learned by now that I hate your food? I can cook better than you!" 

Staring, the man then put the paper bags with food in it on the kitchen counter. 

"Fine then, you cook your own dinner," he replied, putting a gallon of milk away. "I wanted to give you a break, since I knew you'd be exhausted, but if you say so--" 

Nayana sighed. Her father did have a point. She was quite tired from the tryouts. 

"Fine, cook then. But don't blame me if I puke all over the carpet." 

"Hey, I've been taking lessons. Remember last time I cooked something? Wasn't it decent?" he said, now pulling out a package of ground beef. 

Nayana rolled her eyes. "It was meatloaf, and it was horrendous! Like meatloaf isn't bad enough without you ruining it!" 

"You're exaggerating," Ash insisted. "It was actually good for my cooking." 

"Pika!" Pikachu said in obvious disagreement. The Pokémon was behind Ash's leg, and was staring at what he was making. He had stolen some from Nayana's plate that night and had puked on the carpet, several times. It took the rest of the night to get it out. 

"See, even Pikachu agrees with me! I win!" Nayana said, big grin on her face. Sighing and shaking his head again, the man went into one of the brown paper bags and grabbed a box. Tonight Ash was going to attempt to make a hamburger and noodle dish. 

In about forty-five minutes, dinner was ready. Reluctantly Nayana went to the table, where her father had put down a plate to her. The dish looked nothing like the cover. It was gray sauce, noodles and only a few pieces of meat. Ash had burnt almost all of them, leaving only a few that could actually be used. Nayana felt a sudden urge to sing funeral music as she started at her plate. 

"Nice going Dad," Nayana said sarcastically, sitting down. The man glared at her, spooning some out for himself. 

Slowly the teenager picked up her fork and put some noodles on it. Plugging her nose, Nayana put the noodles into her mouth. To her surprise, it was quite edible. It was actually good. 

"Oh my god Dad made something good," Nayana mumbled. "This is a sign! The world's coming to an end!" she yelled, putting some more noodles onto her fork. 

"Oh shut up and keep eating," he replied, putting some noodles onto his fork. One of the things he did not like was when people taunted him. 

Soon dinner was done. Nayana was still surprised that her father had pulled off something decent. The teenager then went to the counter, where her cookies lay. She took them out of the wrapper and started to devour them. 

"Hey, you're gonna choke yourself if you eat them that fast," Ash said, looking at his daughter. 

"Yah right. You do it all the time, and I haven't seen you choke yet!" Nayana said once her mouth was empty. The man sighed, since his daughter had a good point. 

The night went by quickly. After cake (a celebration of Nayana getting her job), they played Scrabble, where Ash was severely beaten by his daughter. The man had a decent vocabulary, but he couldn't play Scrabble to save his life. Nayana didn't gloat; she knew better not to, since she had before and had gotten in trouble for it. 

After that, Nayana popped in a movie, and Ash, Nayana and Pikachu watched it. By then, it was 10:30, and the man went to bed. That left Nayana out watching cheesy cable movies until she passed out on the couch. 

Saffron City 

In a lonely apartment was Lance. He lived alone, and he loved it that way. His apartment was a mess, with movies, clothes and trash in random piles. Since there was no one to complain about the mess, he never cleaned it up. It wasn't worth his time. Lance only made sure it didn't smell, since that got on his nerves. 

The man sat down on the beaten-up couch and turned on the TV. There was nothing on for his interests, since he hadn't paid the cable bill. He had been too lazy to, and he was feeling the consequences of it. 

The man was quite lonely in his apartment, although he wasn't going to admit it. He never liked company at all, even his co-workers. Lance was a solitary man, and he felt that he needed no one to keep him happy. Yet he felt that he was missing something. While trying to fill the gap, he had bought movies, gone many places and tried many things, always alone when doing so. He had trained to the max, since he had nothing else better to do. Yet it was still there: a void that could never be filled. Many had suggested that he get some real friends, but Lance wasn't going to get any. No one ever liked him, the mean little boy from the orphanage. Why would they want to be friends with him? 

Soon the man lied down on the couch. He was thinking about the people he had seen today. A few actually sparked his interest. Nayana was quite tough; he made a mental note to take the girl on someday. Lance loved a challenge, and the girl looked extraordinarily like the woman he wanted to get revenge against. The woman had sent him to the orphanage. Lance had no family, and he at least wanted to know where he had come from. 

There was also Arielle. There was something that sparked his interest. She seemed like a friendly girl, and the man was surprised to see he actually liked it. He made a note to talk to her again. Maybe then he'd find out if she were even worth his time. A few had sparked his interest like Arielle, but they turned out to be losers. He was sure that she was most likely one too. 

But only time would tell if he was right or wrong. 

Soon the man fell asleep, TV still on. 

-tbc-


End file.
